Content delivery control

ABSTRACT

A group feed is displayed for a selected group by a private social network service. The group feed displays only threads with unviewed content along with a user actuatable display element that allows the user to switch to a feed that displays all content for the group.

BACKGROUND

Computer systems are currently in wide use. Some computer systems areused to provide social networking services.

As one example, a social networking service may be provided for privatecommunications within an organization. Access to such a network may, forinstance, be determined by a user's Internet domain so that onlyindividuals with approved e-mail addresses may join their respectivenetworks. In such networks, a user may subscribe to, or otherwise obtainmembership in, a group. A group may correspond to a certain subjectmatter, a product group, a team, or a wide variety of other entitieswithin an organization. The private social network service provides aplatform for authoring and posting messages to a group message feed, andfor other collaboration activities.

When a user belongs to a group, the private social network serviceallows the user to receive the message feed from the group. The feedillustratively displays messages that have been posted to that group.

In some such systems, a user can interact with messages in a feed. Forinstance, the user can reply, like, expand or otherwise interact with amessage. A message, and its corresponding replies, comprise a thread.Therefore, a group feed within such a social network system can becomprised of a plurality of different threads, each thread including aplurality of different messages or other posts.

It is not uncommon for users of such systems to belong to a relativelylarge number of groups. Therefore, it can be difficult for a user toensure that he or she is up to date on the content posted to the feedsfor the various groups to which the user belongs.

The discussion above is merely provided for general backgroundinformation and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining thescope of the claimed subject matter.

SUMMARY

A group feed is displayed for a selected group by a private socialnetwork service. The group feed displays only threads with unviewedcontent along with a user actuatable display element that allows theuser to switch to a feed that displays all content for the group.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementationsthat solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one example of a private social networkarchitecture.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one example of content feed logic inmore detail.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one example of the overalloperation of the architecture illustrated in FIG. 1 in generating agroup feed indicating viewed and un-viewed content.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show examples of user interface displays.

FIGS. 6A and 6B (collectively referred to herein as FIG. 6) show a flowdiagram illustrating the operation of the content feed logic indetermining whether content in a thread has been viewed and innavigating a user to a next group with unviewed content.

FIGS. 7-8D show examples of user interface displays.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of one example of the architecture shown inFIG. 1, deployed in a cloud computing architecture.

FIGS. 10-12 show examples of mobile devices that can be used in thearchitectures shown in the previous figures.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of one example of a computing environmentthat can be used in the architectures shown in the previous figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one example of a private social networkarchitecture 100. Architecture 100 illustratively includes privatesocial network computing system 102 that is accessible by client systems104-106 over a network 108. Network 108 can be a wide variety ofdifferent networks, such as a wide area network, a local area network, aclose field communication network, etc. Client system 104 is showngenerating user interface displays 110 with user input mechanisms 112for interaction by user 114. User 114 illustratively interacts with userinput mechanisms 112 in order to control and manipulate client system104, and also private social network computing system 102.

It should be noted that, while the present discussion will proceed withrespect to various functionality and logic being provided on privatesocial network computing system 102 and various other functionality andlogic being provided on the client systems, this need not be the case.Instead, some of the functionality and logic shown on computing system102 may be provided on client system 104 in addition, or instead. Also,some of the functionality and logic shown on client system 104 may beprovided on computing system 102 in addition, or instead. All of thesearchitectures are contemplated herein.

Similarly, client system 106 is shown generating user interface displays116 with user input mechanisms 118 for interaction by user 120. User 120illustratively interacts with user input mechanisms 118 in order tocontrol and manipulate client system 106 and private social networkcomputing system 102.

Private social network computing system 102 illustratively providesprivate social network services to users 114-120, through theircorresponding client systems 104-106. Private social network computingsystem 102 thus illustratively includes processors or servers 121,collaboration logic 122, content feed logic 124, user access controllogic 126, feed data management system 128, feed data store 130, and itcan include a wide variety of other items 132. User access control logic126 illustratively includes authentication logic 134, group membershiplogic 136, and it can include other items 138. Users 114-120illustratively provide authentication information through authenticationlogic 134 which allows the users to join groups in private socialnetwork computing system 102. Group membership logic 136 illustrativelytracks the membership within those groups. Feed data store 130illustratively includes group/feed metadata 140, threads 142 for groupfeeds and for other feeds, and it can include other items 144. Feed datamanagement system 128 illustratively manages the group and feed metadata140 so that it defines the various groups that are setup within system102, and to which various users can belong. The group and feed metadata140 illustratively defines different characteristics of the differentgroups (such as the subject matter of the group, different subcategorieswithin the group, etc.). The threads 142 for the group feeds and forother feeds illustratively contains the data that has been posted byvarious users to the group feeds or to other feeds (such as aggregate orgeneral feeds) supported by system 102.

Collaboration logic 122 can be accessed by users 114-120 to performvarious collaboration operations, and content feed logic 124illustratively allows the users to author posts on the various feeds,and it controls display of the various feeds. In one example, logic 124also tracks which users have unviewed content in the various group andother feeds for groups to which they belong. Content feed logic 124 isdescribed in greater detail below.

Each client system 104-106 can include processors or servers 150, userinterface logic 152, data store 154, application component 156, privatesocial network client component 158, and it can include other items 160.Application component 156 illustratively runs applications and uses userinterface logic 152 in order to generate user interface displays 110 andto detect user inputs through those displays. Private social networkcomponent 158 illustratively interacts with private social networkcomputing system 102 in order to provide the private social networkservices to user 114. It will be noted that client system 106 can besimilar to client system 104, or different.

FIG. 2 shows one example of content feed logic 124, in more detail.Again, before proceeding with the present description, it should benoted that some of the items in FIG. 2 may be provided in private socialnetwork client component 158, on the client system instead of, or inaddition to, being provided on computing system 102. However, thepresent discussion will proceed with respect to the various items incontent feed logic 124 residing on private social network computingsystem 102, but this is by way of example only.

FIG. 2 shows that, in one example, content feed logic 124 illustrativelyincludes feed authoring/generator system 162, unviewed counter system164, per-thread pointer management logic 166 and pointer store 168. Itcan include other items 169 as well. Feed authoring/generator system 162illustratively includes group selection detector 170, all/unviewed feedselection detector 172, next group suggestion logic 174, all feedgenerator logic 176, unviewed feed generator logic 178, feed interactionsystem 180, group ranking logic 182, and it can include other items 184.Feed interaction system 180, itself, illustratively includes viewedmessage detector logic 186 (which can include scroll detector 188,message interaction detector 190 and other items 192), postauthoring/publishing logic 194 and it can include other items 196.

Unviewed counter system 164 illustratively includes thread accessinglogic 198, message identifier comparison logic 200, counting logic 202,count update logic 204, count clear logic 206, and it can include otheritems 208.

Pointer store 168 illustratively includes group data 210-212 for a widevariety of different groups. Each set of group data 210-212illustratively includes thread data 214-216 that identifies variousthreads for a given group. The thread data 214-216 can include a threadidentifier 218 (that identifies the thread), a last message viewedidentifier 220 (that identifies the last message in the thread viewed bythis user), a last reply identifier 222 (that indicates the last replysubmitted by this user on this thread), and it can include other items224. In addition to the thread data 214-216, group data 210 can includea wide variety of other data 226 corresponding to the groups. Inaddition, pointer store 168 can include other data or other items 228 aswell.

Before describing the overall operation of content feed logic 124 andprivate social network architecture 100 in more detail, a brief overviewof some of the items in content feed logic 124 will first be provided.Group selection detector 170 illustratively allows a user to select agroup so that the user can view the group feed for that group. The groupfeed (as is described in greater detail below) is illustrativelydisplayed with an actuator that allows the user to see only unviewedcontent for that group or to see all content for that group.All/unviewed feed selection detector 172 detects which the user haschosen. All feed generator logic 176 generates a group feed showing allthe content for that group, while unviewed feed generator logic 178generates an unviewed feed showing only unviewed content for theselected group.

When the user has viewed all of the previously unviewed content for agroup, next group suggestion logic 174 provides a user message and alink to a next suggested group that contains unviewed content for thisuser. By actuating the link, the user is navigated to the unviewed feedfor that group.

Group ranking logic 182 illustratively ranks the various groups that auser belongs to, based on the engagement level of the user with eachgroup. For instance, if a user views, and engages with, a group feed fora first group multiple times a day, but only views, and engages with, agroup feed for a second group every other day, then group ranking logic182 will rank the first group higher than the second group. This can bedone for a plurality of different groups.

Feed interaction system 180 illustratively detects user interactionswith the various components or actuatable display elements in a feed sothat the system can take appropriate actions. Viewed message detector186 detects when a user has viewed a message in a thread so that thestate of that message and thread can be changed from unviewed to viewed.A scroll detector 188 can determine whether the user has scrolled past amessage so the thread has been seen and message interaction detector 190detects whether the user has interacted with a message in the thread(such as liked it, replied to it, etc.). When either of these occur(e.g., when the user has scrolled past a message in a thread orinteracted with a message or a thread), viewed message detector logic186 detects that the message or thread has been viewed and can thuschange the state of the message or thread. Post authoring/publishinglogic 194 illustratively generates user input mechanisms that can beactuated by the user in order to author a post in a group or other feed,and to publish that post to the desired feed.

Unviewed counter system 164 illustratively includes logic thatidentifies a count of a number of threads that contain new messages(which have not been viewed by this user). It can illustrativelygenerate a display of that count on a per-group basis. In addition, itcan aggregate the counts from the various groups to display an overallcount indicating the overall number of threads, for all groups that theuser belongs to, that contain unviewed content (that is, content whichhas not been viewed by this user).

To obtain the counts, thread accessing logic 198 illustratively accessesthe thread data 214 in pointer store 168 to identify the last messageviewed identifier 220 for a given thread. Message identifier comparisonlogic 200 then compares that message identifier with the most recentmessage identifier in the thread under analysis to determine whetherthere have been more recent messages posted to that thread. If so,counting logic 202 increments a counter corresponding to the number ofthreads that have unviewed content for this user. Count update logic 204illustratively updates any display of that count on the user interfacedisplay, for viewing by the user. Count clear logic 206 can be used toclear the counters so that all of the content in the corresponding groupfeed (or in all of the feeds) is marked as viewed.

Per-thread pointer management logic 166 maintains the data in pointerstore 168. Therefore, for each thread and for each user, per-threadpointer management logic 166 maintains thread data 214. It thusmaintains a record of the last message viewed, for each user, and foreach thread in each group that the user belongs to, using last messageviewed identifier 220. Thus, thread accessing logic 198 can request suchinformation from per-thread pointer management logic 166, when a displayis being generated for a user.

Also, as the user views messages in a thread, this information isdetected and provided by view message detector logic 186 to per-threadpointer management logic 166. Logic 166 can then update the data inpointer store 168 to indicate that this particular user has now viewed amessage in a particular thread.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the overall operation of contentfeed logic 124 and private social network architecture 100 in generatingdisplays of group feeds, so that a user can easily determine whetherthere is any content that is unviewed by the user for the various groupsthat the user belongs to. Authentication logic 134 first detects a userinput indicating that the user is accessing the network servicesprovided by private social network computing system 102. This isindicated by block 250 in FIG. 3. The present description will proceedwith respect to user 114 accessing private social network computingsystem 102 through client system 104. Of course, this is just oneexample.

The user input indicating that user 114 is attempting to access thesocial network services may be that the user has provided authenticationinformation 252, other login information 254, or provided some otherinput indicating that the user is attempting to access the servicesprovided by computing system 102. This is indicated by block 256.

Once the user has attempted to access the social network services,unviewed counter system 164 accesses the pointers in pointer store 168for this user so that the counts of threads with unviewed content can begenerated. This is indicated by block 258 in FIG. 3. It will be notedthat the counts can be pre-computed and computing them in response tothe user accessing the system is only one example.

To compute the counts, thread accessing logic 198 and message identifiercomparison logic 200 provide information to counting logic 202 so thatcounting logic 202 can generate the unviewed counts for each group thatthe user is a member of, and an aggregate unviewed count which is theoverall number of threads that have unviewed content for this user. Thisis indicated by block 260. In doing so, thread accessing logic 198 firstselects a group (the group under analysis) for which a count is to begenerated, and this is indicated by block 262. Thread accessing logic198 obtains the last message viewed identifier 220 for each thread inthe group under analysis and provides it to message identifiercomparison logic 200. Logic 200 then accesses the thread data 142 toobtain a message identifier for the most recent message in each of thethreads in the selected group to determine whether there have beenadditional messages posted to those threads, or any new threads started,since the last message viewed by this user. Determining whether anythreads in the group under analysis have unviewed content for this useris indicated by block 264 in FIG. 3.

If so, then counting logic 202 adds up the number of threads in thegroup under analysis that have unviewed content for this user andoutputs that count to count update logic 204 which can update theunviewed content count for this group, and for this user. This isindicated by block 266. If the user belongs to any other groups, thenthe next group is selected as the group under analysis and the processrepeats to obtain a count of threads that contain unviewed content, inthe newly selected group, for this user. This is indicated by block 268.This continues for each group that the user belongs to so that eachgroup has an unviewed content count associated with it.

Counting logic 202 can also generate an aggregate unviewed count byadding together, or otherwise aggregating, the unviewed content countsfor each of the groups in order to obtain an overall unviewed count, forall threads in all groups, for this user. This is indicated by block 270in FIG. 3.

Content feed logic 124 then displays a landing page for the user that isaccessing the social networking services. This is indicated by block272. The landing page can be a page that displays a pre-selected ordefault group feed. This is indicated by block 274. The landing page canshow all of the relevant counts (the counts that indicate the unviewedcontent for the various threads in the groups that the user belongs to).This is indicated by block 276. The landing page can also include agroup list with selectable display elements for each group, so that theuser can actuate the selectable display element to navigate to a groupfeed for the selected group. This is indicated by block 278. The landingpage can include other items 280 as well.

At some point, the user will select a group (or one can be automaticallyselected or selected by default) so that the user can view the groupfeed for that group. This is indicated by block 282. Unviewed feedgenerator logic 178 then generates an unviewed group feed display forthe selected group. This is indicated by block 284. In one example, thedisplay only displays threads with unviewed content. This is indicatedby block 286. The messages in those threads are illustratively displayedin reverse chronological order as indicated by block 288, and they caninclude visual indicators that visually indicate that the thread hasunviewed content, or unviewed messages. Displaying the unviewed threadswith these visual indicators is indicated by block 290 in FIG. 3.

The display also illustratively includes the unviewed content countsgenerated as discussed above, and as will be illustrated in more detailbelow. This is indicated by block 292 in FIG. 3

The display also illustratively allows the user to switch back and forthbetween the unviewed feed, that shows only unviewed threads for theselected group, and an all- inclusive feed that shows all content forthe selected group. This is indicated by block 294 in FIG. 3. The groupfeed display can include other items 296 as well.

Before proceeding further with the description of FIG. 3, FIG. 4 showsone example of a user interface display 300 that shows a group feed.Display 300 illustratively includes a group list portion 302 that liststhe various groups that this user belongs to. Display 300 alsoillustratively includes group feed display portion 303, otherinformation display portion 305, and header display portion 307.

List portion 302 illustratively includes group selection actuators 304,306, 308, 310, and 312. When one of the actuators is actuated, the useris navigated to the group feed for the corresponding group. In addition,the unviewed counts for the groups are also shown in the exampleillustrated by FIG. 4. For instance, the customer service displayelement 308, corresponding to a customer service group, has acorresponding unviewed content count indicator 314 that shows that thegroup has 12 threads that have content that has not yet been viewed bythis user. In addition, the ACME ABC group selection actuator 310 has anunviewed content count indicator 316 that indicates that three threadsin the group feed for that group have messages that have not been viewedby the present user.

Group feed display portion 303 displays a group feed that containsthreads of messages posted in the feed for the selected group. Otherinformation display portion 305 displays other information, such asgroup members for the selected group, information about the selectedgroup, related groups, etc.

Header display portion 307 illustratively includes a group identifierportion 318 and unviewed/all actuators 320 and 322. Unread content countindicator 323 can be displayed closely proximate the unviewed actuator320. When the user actuates the unviewed actuator 320, this causes theunviewed feed generator logic 178 (shown in FIG. 2) to display theunviewed feed for the selected group in group feed display portion 303.When the user actuates the all actuator 322, this causes all feedgenerator logic 176 to display all of the group feed content for theselected group in the group feed display portion 303.

Group feed display portion 303 can illustratively display differentthreads 324-326 in the group feed. It can be seen that the user hasactuated the unviewed actuator 320 so that the only threads shown ingroup feed display portion 303 have content that has not yet been viewedby the user. Each of the threads also illustratively includes anunviewed indicator 328 and 330, respectively. In the example shown inFIG. 4, the unviewed indicator 328 is a colored dot that indicates thatthe corresponding thread contains unviewed messages or content. As soonas the user views the messages or content in that thread, then indicator328 visually changes to indicate this. In one example, it simplydisappears. In another example, it may change shape, size, color, etc.,in an animated way to provide visual indicia that the message or threadhas now been marked as viewed. When this happens, the count indicators314, 316 and 323 are updated (e.g., decremented) indicating that theuser has now viewed one or more of the messages or threads in theselected group. In one example, once content is marked as viewed, theuser is not provided with functionality to change it back. It isirreversibly (from the user's perspective) marked as viewed.

As is described in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 6A and 6B,the user can illustratively scroll horizontally through the group feeddisplay portion 303 in order to view the various, previously unviewedthreads in the group feed for the selected group. The user may viewcontent in other ways as well.

FIG. 5 is another example of a user interface display 350 that can begenerated, for instance, when the user has selected the all actuator322. It will be noted that some items in FIG. 5 are similar to thoseshown in FIG. 4, and they are similarly numbered. However, it can beseen in FIG. 5 that a previously viewed thread 352 is now also includedin the group feed display portion 303 instead of only unviewed threads.

Returning again to the flow diagram of FIG. 3, once the group feed isdisplayed on the user interface display, the user can interact with thegroup feed in various ways. Detecting user interaction with the groupfeed is indicated by block 354 in FIG. 3. User interaction canillustratively be detected by feed interaction system 180 illustrated inFIG. 2. Once the user interaction has been detected, then private socialnetwork computing system 102 illustratively performs one or moredifferent actions based upon the detected user interaction. This isindicated by block 356.

For instance, when the user has interacted with the display to indicatethat the user has viewed a previously unviewed thread, then the threadcan be marked as viewed. This is indicated by block 358. When the useractuates one of the unread or all actuators 320 and 322, the feedgenerator logic 176 and 178 can switch to generating the appropriatefeed. This is indicated by block 360. When the user has viewed allpreviously unviewed content in a selected group, then next groupsuggestion logic 174 (shown in FIG. 2) can generate a display elementsuggesting a next group that the user should view. This is indicated byblock 362 and is described below in more detail with respect to FIG. 7.If the user actuates a clear actuator, then all of the unviewed contentfor this group can be marked as viewed. This is indicated by block 364.The user can also interact with post authoring/publishing logic 194 inorder to post a message to a thread, or start a new thread, as indicatedby block 366. The user can select another group by actuating one of theactuators 304-312 so that the group feed for that group can bedisplayed. In one example, when this happens, the unviewed feed for theselected group is displayed first. This is indicated by block 368. Theuser can interact with the group feed in a variety of other ways aswell, and this is indicated by block 370.

FIGS. 6A and 6B (collectively referred to herein as FIG. 6) show oneexample of a more detailed flow diagram illustrating the operation ofviewed message detector logic 186 in detecting that a particular messageor thread has been viewed by the user, when it was previously unviewed.

It is first assumed that a group feed is being displayed, and that ithas a thread with unviewed messages. This is indicated by block 380 inFIG. 6, and one example of this is illustrated in FIG. 4. In order todetect that a message or a thread has been viewed, message interactiondetector 190 (in FIG. 2) can detect whether the user has interacted witha message in the thread. This is indicated by block 382. For instance,the user may interact with the thread or a message in the thread byliking it, as indicated by block 384, by replying to it as indicated byblock 386, by clicking on an actuator to expand the message as indicatedby block 388, or in other ways as indicated by block 390.

Interacting with a thread or with a message in the thread indicates thatthe user has viewed the thread. Therefore, processing illustrativelyskips to block 392 where viewed message detector logic 186 identifiesthat the message has been viewed and provides this to per-thread pointermanagement logic 166 which can illustratively update the last messageviewed identifier 220 for the corresponding thread in the thread data214, for this user.

However, if message interaction detector 190 has not yet detected thatthe user has interacted with the message or the thread, the message canstill be marked as viewed in other ways. For instance, scroll detector188 can also illustratively detect that the user has scrolled the groupfeed. This is indicated by block 394. If so, it also illustrativelydetects whether an entire unviewed message is, or has been, visible onthe screen, as the user scrolls. This is indicated by block 396. If not,then the message is not marked as having been viewed.

However, if, at block 396, it is determined that the entire message hasbeen displayed, then viewed message detector logic 186 can alsodetermine whether the message has been displayed for a sufficiently longtime that it should be marked viewed. For instance, if a user veryquickly scrolls past a message, it may be that the message should not bemarked as viewed. However, if the message (or a portion of the message)has been displayed for a sufficient amount of time, then the message orthread may be marked as having been viewed. This is indicated by blocks398 and 392, respectively. It will be noted that these are only someexamples of detecting that a message or other thread content has beenviewed, and a wide variety of others may be used as well.

Once viewed message detector logic 186 identifies that a previouslyunviewed message has now been viewed, and marks it as such, then, asbriefly mentioned above, this is provided to per-thread pointermanagement logic 166. Logic 166 then updates the last message viewedidentifier 220 for that corresponding thread, and the unviewed feedgenerator logic 178 also modifies the indicator on the message or threadto show that it has now been viewed. With reference to FIG. 4, it canmodify the indicator 328 indicating that the messages in thread 324 havebeen viewed. Modifying the viewed indicator on the message or thread isindicated by block 400 in the flow diagram of FIG. 6.

In addition, unviewed counter system 164 also processes this informationso that count update logic 204 can update the unviewed countercorresponding to the selected group. It can also update any aggregatecounter that provides an aggregate count of unviewed content. Adjustingthe counters is indicated by block 402 in the flow diagram of FIG. 6.

If there are more unviewed threads in this group feed, then processingcontinues at block 380, where those threads are displayed. For instance,as the user scrolls to a new thread containing unviewed content,processing reverts to block 380 in the flow diagram of FIG. 6. Repeatingthis processing for each unviewed thread in this group is indicated byblock 404 in FIG. 6.

Assuming that the unviewed feed is being displayed for the selectedgroup, and assuming that, at block 404, it is determined that the userhas now viewed all of the content in all of the threads for this group,then group ranking logic 182 identifies a highest ranked group (e.g., inthe group list 302 illustrated in FIG. 4) that has unviewed content.This is indicated by block 406 in the flow diagram of FIG. 6.

This information is provided to next group suggestion logic 174 whichgenerates a user message on the user interface display suggesting thatthe user navigate to the unviewed feed for the identified group. Thisuser message can also include a user actuatable link or other user inputmechanism which, when actuated by the user, navigates the user to theunviewed feed for that group. Generating the user message suggestingnavigation to the unviewed feed for the next group, and providing a linkto that feed is indicated by block 408 in FIG. 6.

Next group suggestion logic 174 may then illustratively detect useractuation of the link. This is indicated by block 410. When thishappens, unviewed feed generator logic 178 navigates the user to theunviewed feed for the identified group. This is indicated by block 412in FIG. 6, and processing then reverts to block 380.

If the user does not actuate the link, then the system waits for otheruser interactions and performs corresponding interactions. This isindicated by block 414. For instance, the user may actuate a groupactuator to navigate to another selected group. The user may postinformation to a feed, or provide a wide variety of other inputs thatcause the system to perform other actions.

FIG. 7 is an example of another user interface display 416 thatillustrates the operation of next group suggestion logic 174. If can beseen that some of the items are similar to the user interface displayillustrated in FIG. 4, and they are similarly numbered. It can be seenin FIG. 7 that the user has now viewed all of the messages in theunviewed feed for the selected group (which corresponds to the groupactuator 310 in list 302). Thus, the count indicators 316 and 323 haveall been decremented to zero, indicating that the user no longer has anyunviewed content in the corresponding group feed. Thus, next groupsuggestion logic 174 illustratively generates a user message, such asthat shown generally at 416, indicating that the user has now viewed allof the content for the group being displayed. Group ranking logic 182identifies the highest ranked group in list 302 that still has unviewedcontent. It provides an indication of that group to next groupsuggestion logic 174, which displays a link 418 that can be actuated tonavigate to the unviewed feed for that group. FIG. 7 illustrates thatthe highest ranked group in list 302, that currently has unviewedcontent, is the “Customer Service” group. Therefore, link 418 is a linkto the unviewed feed for the Customer Service group. It is a useractuatable link so that, if the user actuates link 418, then unviewedfeed generator logic 178 navigates the user to the unviewed feed for theCustomer Service group.

Also, as briefly mentioned above, in one example, count clear logic 206(shown in FIG. 2) can generate a user actuatable element that can beactuated by the user in order to clear all of the unviewed contentcounters, and thus mark all of the content as having been viewed by theuser. For instance, a user may belong to groups where the user may notwish to scroll past every message in that group, but may wish to clearthe unviewed message count and mark the group as “done”. FIG. 8A showsone example of a user interface display in which the group identifier318 and the unread and all actuators 320 and 322, respectively, areslightly different than those shown, for example, in FIG. 7. However,they may function similarly.

In one example, if the user hovers over the “unread” actuator 320 in theheader, then the count indicator 323 may illustratively change itsvisual appearance. For instance, as shown in FIG. 8B, it may change to acheck mark or other visual indicator. Then, if the user hovers thecursor over the check mark, this may cause the system to provideadditional information informing the user that clicking the check markmarks everything in the displayed group feed to indicate that it hasbeen viewed. One example of this is illustrated in FIG. 8C. When theuser then actuates the check mark (e.g., by clicking on it), count clearlogic 206 clears the counter for the present group, and per-threadpointer management logic 166 updates the last message viewed identifier220 for all threads in the group to the most recent message identifierthat was posted in each of those threads. Count update logic 204 thenupdates the counter display as shown in FIG. 8D, indicating that thereare no more threads with unviewed content in this group, and next groupsuggestion logic 174 displays a message, such as message 416 in FIG. 7,indicating that the user is all caught up with respect to this group. Itcan also display link 418 suggesting that the user navigates to theunviewed feed for the next highest group in list 302. If there are nomore groups in list 302 with unviewed content, then the link need not bedisplayed. Instead, a message, such as message 420, can be generated,which simply indicates that the user is caught up and there are no moreunread conversations.

It can thus be seen that the present system greatly enhances theperformance of the computing system itself. It surfaces only unviewedcontent, in a separate feed, for each given group. Thus, the feed has afinite number of threads or messages displayed in it, so that, when theuser reaches the bottom of the feed, the user knows that he or she hasseen all unviewed content corresponding to that group feed. In addition,while the user is viewing the unviewed content, if new content is addedto the group feed, the user is illustratively redirected to the newcontent before indicating that the user is up to date. This not onlyensures that a user can quickly and easily view all unviewed content fora group, but it provides the user with confidence that he or she hasindeed seen all unviewed content for a group.

Further, per-thread pointer management logic 166 maintains a pointer foreach thread in each group, on a per-user basis, identifying the lastmessage in each thread that the user viewed. This allows unviewedcounter system 164 to quickly and accurately obtain a count of unviewedthreads, per group, for the user, and display that so that the userknows how much unviewed content he or she has in each group.

Also, the system provides two separate feeds, one with only unviewedcontent, and one with all content for the group. It also provides realtime detection as to whether a thread or messages within a thread havebeen viewed by the user, without the user needing to interact with aspecific message or thread, except to scroll past it. The system thusmaintains an accurate count of viewed and unviewed messages in eachgroup. In addition, the system more quickly surfaces the most relevantcontent for a given user. When the user has finished viewing unviewedcontent in a particular group feed, the next most relevant group (thatmost engaged with by the user) that has unviewed content is suggested tothe user and a link is automatically provided. Upon detection of useractuation of that link, the system automatically surfaces the unviewedfeed for that next most relevant group.

Similarly, because the per-thread pointer management logic maintains thepointer on a per-thread basis, the state of a thread (e.g., whether ithas unviewed content) is the same regardless of where content wasviewed. Therefore, this greatly reduces the message duplication acrossthe system so that the user does not see the same threads as beingunread, in multiple locations, even after the user has already viewedthe content in a different location. For instance, if the user views thecontent in a group feed, the same content will not show up as unviewedin an aggregate feed. The state of the content of a particular thread ismaintained in pointer store 168, regardless of where the thread appears.This greatly reduces message duplication within the system.

It will be noted that the above discussion has described a variety ofdifferent systems, components and/or logic. It will be appreciated thatsuch systems, components and/or logic can be comprised of hardware items(such as processors and associated memory, or other processingcomponents, some of which are described below) that perform thefunctions associated with those systems, components and/or logic. Inaddition, the systems, components and/or logic can be comprised ofsoftware that is loaded into a memory and is subsequently executed by aprocessor or server, or other computing component, as described below.The systems, components and/or logic can also be comprised of differentcombinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc., some examples ofwhich are described below. These are only some examples of differentstructures that can be used to form the systems, components and/or logicdescribed above. Other structures can be used as well.

The present discussion has mentioned processors and servers. In oneexample, the processors and servers include computer processors withassociated memory and timing circuitry, not separately shown. They arefunctional parts of the systems or devices to which they belong and areactivated by, and facilitate the functionality of the other componentsor items in those systems.

Also, a number of user interface displays have been discussed. They cantake a wide variety of different forms and can have a wide variety ofdifferent user actuatable input mechanisms disposed thereon. Forinstance, the user actuatable input mechanisms can be text boxes, checkboxes, icons, links, drop-down menus, search boxes, etc. They can alsobe actuated in a wide variety of different ways. For instance, they canbe actuated using a point and click device (such as a track ball ormouse). They can be actuated using hardware buttons, switches, ajoystick or keyboard, thumb switches or thumb pads, etc. They can alsobe actuated using a virtual keyboard or other virtual actuators. Inaddition, where the screen on which they are displayed is a touchsensitive screen, they can be actuated using touch gestures. Also, wherethe device that displays them has speech recognition components, theycan be actuated using speech commands

A number of data stores have also been discussed. It will be noted theycan each be broken into multiple data stores. All can be local to thesystems accessing them, all can be remote, or some can be local whileothers are remote. All of these configurations are contemplated herein.

Also, the figures show a number of blocks with functionality ascribed toeach block. It will be noted that fewer blocks can be used so thefunctionality is performed by fewer components. Also, more blocks can beused with the functionality distributed among more components.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of architecture 100, shown in FIG. 1, exceptthat its elements are disposed in a cloud computing architecture 500.Cloud computing provides computation, software, data access, and storageservices that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical locationor configuration of the system that delivers the services. In variousembodiments, cloud computing delivers the services over a wide areanetwork, such as the internet, using appropriate protocols. Forinstance, cloud computing providers deliver applications over a widearea network and they can be accessed through a web browser or any othercomputing component. Software or components of architecture 100 as wellas the corresponding data, can be stored on servers at a remotelocation. The computing resources in a cloud computing environment canbe consolidated at a remote data center location or they can bedispersed. Cloud computing infrastructures can deliver services throughshared data centers, even though they appear as a single point of accessfor the user. Thus, the components and functions described herein can beprovided from a service provider at a remote location using a cloudcomputing architecture. Alternatively, they can be provided from aconventional server, or they can be installed on client devicesdirectly, or in other ways.

The description is intended to include both public cloud computing andprivate cloud computing. Cloud computing (both public and private)provides substantially seamless pooling of resources, as well as areduced need to manage and configure underlying hardware infrastructure.

A public cloud is managed by a vendor and typically supports multipleconsumers using the same infrastructure. Also, a public cloud, asopposed to a private cloud, can free up the end users from managing thehardware. A private cloud may be managed by the organization itself andthe infrastructure is typically not shared with other organizations. Theorganization still maintains the hardware to some extent, such asinstallations and repairs, etc.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, some items are similar to those shown inFIG. 1 and they are similarly numbered. FIG. 9 specifically shows thatprivate social network computing system 100 can be located in cloud 502(which can be public, private, or a combination where portions arepublic while others are private). Therefore, users 114-120 use userdevices 504-506 that include client systems 104-106, respectively, toaccess system 102 through cloud 502.

FIG. 9 also depicts another example of a cloud architecture. FIG. 9shows that it is also contemplated that some elements of system 102 canbe disposed in cloud 502 while others are not. By way of example, datastore 130 can be disposed outside of cloud 502, and accessed throughcloud 502. In another example, content feed logic 124 can be outside ofcloud 502. Regardless of where they are located, they can be accesseddirectly by devices 504-506, through a network (either a wide areanetwork or a local area network), they can be hosted at a remote site bya service, or they can be provided as a service through a cloud oraccessed by a connection service that resides in the cloud. All of thesearchitectures are contemplated herein.

It will also be noted that architecture 100, or portions of it, can bedisposed on a wide variety of different devices. Some of those devicesinclude servers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers,or other mobile devices, such as palm top computers, cell phones, smartphones, multimedia players, personal digital assistants, etc.

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of one illustrative example of ahandheld or mobile computing device that can be used as a user's orclient's hand held device 16, in which the present system (or parts ofit) can be deployed. FIGS. 11-12 are examples of handheld or mobiledevices.

FIG. 10 provides a general block diagram of the components of a clientdevice 16 that can run components of architecture 100 or that interactswith architecture 100, or both. In the device 16, a communications link13 is provided that allows the handheld device to communicate with othercomputing devices and under some embodiments provides a channel forreceiving information automatically, such as by scanning. Examples ofcommunications link 13 include an infrared port, a serial/USB port, acable network port such as an Ethernet port, and a wireless network portallowing communication though one or more communication protocolsincluding General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), LTE, HSPA, HSPA+ andother 3G and 4G radio protocols, 1Xrtt, and Short Message Service, whichare wireless services used to provide cellular access to a network, aswell as Wi-Fi protocols, and Bluetooth protocol, which provide localwireless connections to networks.

In other examples, applications or systems are received on a removableSecure Digital (SD) card that is connected to a SD card interface 15. SDcard interface 15 and communication links 13 communicate with aprocessor 17 (which can also embody processors or servers from previousFigures) along a bus 19 that is also connected to memory 21 andinput/output (I/O) components 23, as well as clock 25 and locationsystem 27.

I/O components 23, in one embodiment, are provided to facilitate inputand output operations. I/O components 23 for various embodiments of thedevice 16 can include input components such as buttons, touch sensors,multi-touch sensors, optical or video sensors, voice sensors, touchscreens, proximity sensors, microphones, tilt sensors, and gravityswitches and output components such as a display device, a speaker, andor a printer port. Other I/O components 23 can be used as well.

Clock 25 illustratively comprises a real time clock component thatoutputs a time and date. It can also, illustratively, provide timingfunctions for processor 17.

Location system 27 illustratively includes a component that outputs acurrent geographical location of device 16. This can include, forinstance, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a LORAN system, adead reckoning system, a cellular triangulation system, or otherpositioning system. It can also include, for example, mapping softwareor navigation software that generates desired maps, navigation routesand other geographic functions.

Memory 21 stores operating system 29, network settings 31, applications33, application configuration settings 35, data store 37, communicationdrivers 39, and communication configuration settings 41. Memory 21 caninclude all types of tangible volatile and non-volatilecomputer-readable memory devices. It can also include computer storagemedia (described below). Memory 21 stores computer readable instructionsthat, when executed by processor 17, cause the processor to performcomputer-implemented steps or functions according to the instructions.Similarly, device 16 can have a client business system 24 which can runvarious applications or embody parts or all of system 102. Processor 17can be activated by other components to facilitate their functionalityas well.

Examples of the network settings 31 include things such as proxyinformation, Internet connection information, and mappings. Applicationconfiguration settings 35 include settings that tailor the applicationfor a specific enterprise or user. Communication configuration settings41 provide parameters for communicating with other computers and includeitems such as GPRS parameters, SMS parameters, connection user names andpasswords.

Applications 33 can be applications that have previously been stored onthe device 16 or applications that are installed during use, althoughthese can be part of operating system 29, or hosted external to device16, as well.

FIG. 11 shows one example in which device 16 is a tablet computer 600.In FIG. 11, computer 600 is shown with user interface display screen602. Screen 602 can be a touch screen (so touch gestures from a user'sfinger can be used to interact with the application) or a pen-enabledinterface that receives inputs from a pen or stylus. It can also use anon-screen virtual keyboard. Of course, it might also be attached to akeyboard or other user input device through a suitable attachmentmechanism, such as a wireless link or USB port, for instance. Computer600 can also illustratively receive voice inputs as well.

FIG. 12 shows that the device can be a smart phone 71. Smart phone 71has a touch sensitive display 73 that displays icons or tiles or otheruser input mechanisms 75. Mechanisms 75 can be used by a user to runapplications, make calls, perform data transfer operations, etc. Ingeneral, smart phone 71 is built on a mobile operating system and offersmore advanced computing capability and connectivity than a featurephone.

Note that other forms of the devices 16 are possible.

FIG. 13 is one example of a computing environment in which architecture100, or parts of it, (for example) can be deployed. With reference toFIG. 13, an example system for implementing some embodiments includes ageneral-purpose computing device in the form of a computer 810.Components of computer 810 may include, but are not limited to, aprocessing unit 820 (which can comprise processors or servers fromprevious Figures), a system memory 830, and a system bus 821 thatcouples various system components including the system memory to theprocessing unit 820. The system bus 821 may be any of several types ofbus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By wayof example, and not limitation, such architectures include IndustryStandard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus,Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA)local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus also known asMezzanine bus. Memory and programs described with respect to FIG. 1 canbe deployed in corresponding portions of FIG. 13.

Computer 810 typically includes a variety of computer readable media.Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessedby computer 810 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media,removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media is different from, anddoes not include, a modulated data signal or carrier wave. It includeshardware storage media including both volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computerstorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to store the desired information and which canbe accessed by computer 810. Communication media typically embodiescomputer readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother data in a transport mechanism and includes any informationdelivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that hasone or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as toencode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,communication media includes wired media such as a wired network ordirect-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF,infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

The system memory 830 includes computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 831and random access memory (RAM) 832. A basic input/output system 833(BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within computer 810, such as during start-up, istypically stored in ROM 831. RAM 832 typically contains data and/orprogram modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presentlybeing operated on by processing unit 820. By way of example, and notlimitation, FIG. 13 illustrates operating system 834, applicationprograms 835, other program modules 836, and program data 837.

The computer 810 may also include other removable/non-removablevolatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,FIG. 13 illustrates a hard disk drive 841 that reads from or writes tonon-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, and an optical disk drive 855that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk 856such as a CD ROM or other optical media. Other removable/non-removable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in theexemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to,magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks,digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. Thehard disk drive 841 is typically connected to the system bus 821 througha non-removable memory interface such as interface 840, and optical diskdrive 855 are typically connected to the system bus 821 by a removablememory interface, such as interface 850.

Alternatively, or in addition, the functionality described herein can beperformed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components.For example, and without limitation, illustrative types of hardwarelogic components that can be used include Field-programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), Program-specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Program-specificStandard Products (ASSPs), System-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), ComplexProgrammable Logic Devices (CPLDs), etc.

The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed aboveand illustrated in FIG. 13, provide storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputer 810. In FIG. 13, for example, hard disk drive 841 isillustrated as storing operating system 844, application programs 845,other program modules 846, and program data 847. Note that thesecomponents can either be the same as or different from operating system834, application programs 835, other program modules 836, and programdata 837. Operating system 844, application programs 845, other programmodules 846, and program data 847 are given different numbers here toillustrate that, at a minimum, they are different copies.

A user may enter commands and information into the computer 810 throughinput devices such as a keyboard 862, a microphone 863, and a pointingdevice 861, such as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Other input devices(not shown) may include a joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner,or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to theprocessing unit 820 through a user input interface 860 that is coupledto the system bus, but may be connected by other interface and busstructures, such as a parallel port, game port or a universal serial bus(USB). A visual display 891 or other type of display device is alsoconnected to the system bus 821 via an interface, such as a videointerface 890. In addition to the monitor, computers may also includeother peripheral output devices such as speakers 897 and printer 896,which may be connected through an output peripheral interface 895.

The computer 810 is operated in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer880. The remote computer 880 may be a personal computer, a hand-helddevice, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other commonnetwork node, and typically includes many or all of the elementsdescribed above relative to the computer 810. The logical connectionsdepicted in FIG. 13 include a local area network (LAN) 871 and a widearea network (WAN) 873, but may also include other networks. Suchnetworking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-widecomputer networks, intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 810 is connectedto the LAN 871 through a network interface or adapter 870. When used ina WAN networking environment, the computer 810 typically includes amodem 872 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN873, such as the Internet. The modem 872, which may be internal orexternal, may be connected to the system bus 821 via the user inputinterface 860, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 810, orportions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. Byway of example, and not limitation, FIG. 13 illustrates remoteapplication programs 885 as residing on remote computer 880. It will beappreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and othermeans of establishing a communications link between the computers may beused.

It should also be noted that the different embodiments described hereincan be combined in different ways. That is, parts of one or moreembodiments can be combined with parts of one or more other embodiments.All of this is contemplated herein.

Example 1 is a computing system, comprising:

per-thread pointer management logic that maintains, for each of aplurality of different corresponding threads in a group feed in aprivate social network computing system, a last message viewedidentifier, the last message viewed identifier identifying a lastmessage, in the corresponding thread, viewed by a user; and

unviewed feed generator logic that identifies unviewed threads in thegroup feed based on the last message viewed identifier, for the userand, in response to a user input, generates an unviewed feed to displaythe unviewed threads in a separate feed from previously viewed threadsin the group feed.

Example 2 is the computing system of any or all previous examples andfurther comprising:

all feed generator logic that generates an all content feed to displaypreviously viewed and unviewed threads in the group feed.

Example 3 is the computing system of any or all previous examples andfurther comprising:

an all/unviewed feed selection detector that detects a user selectedfeed indicative of a selected one of the all content feed and theunviewed feed and indicates to the unviewed feed generator logic and theall feed generator logic the user selected feed.

Example 4 is the computing system of any or all previous examples andfurther comprising:

viewed message detector logic that detects when a subsequent message inthe corresponding thread is viewed by the user and generates anindication that the subsequent message has been viewed, the per-threadpointer management logic updating the last message viewed identifier forthe corresponding thread based on the indication from the viewed messagedetector logic.

Example 5 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the viewed message detector logic comprises:

a message interaction detector that detects user interaction with thesubsequent message and detects that the subsequent message has beenviewed by the user based on the detected user interaction.

Example 6 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the viewed message detector logic is configured to detect whenthe subsequent message is fully displayed on a user display screen and,in response, generate the indication that the subsequent message hasbeen viewed.

Example 7 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the viewed message detector logic comprises:

a scroll detector configured to detect a scroll input indicative of theuser scrolling the subsequent message through the display screen.

Example 8 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the unviewed feed generator is configured to display eachunviewed thread with an unviewed visual indicator indicating that theunviewed thread is unviewed and to modify an appearance of the unviewedvisual indicator when the unviewed thread is viewed.

Example 9 is the computing system of any or all previous examples andfurther comprising

next group suggestion logic that identifies a next group that has anunviewed thread and, in response to the viewed message detector logicdetecting that the user has viewed all threads in the unviewed feed forthe group, generating a user message indicating that the user has viewedall messages in the group feed and including a user actuatable link toan unviewed feed for the identified next group.

Example 10 is the computing system of any or all previous examples andfurther comprising:

an unviewed counter system that counts the unviewed threads in the groupfeed and generates a count display displaying the count of the unviewedthreads for each group feed.

Example 11 is the computing system of any or all previous exampleswherein the unviewed thread counter system comprises:

count update logic that updates the count display based on changes tothe last message viewed identifier.

Example 12 is a computer implemented method, comprising:

displaying a group list comprising a group selector corresponding to agroup, with which a user is associated, in a private social networkcomputing system;

displaying a count indicator indicative of a number of unviewed threadsin a group feed corresponding to the group, the unviewed threads havingcontent not previously viewed by the user;

displaying an unviewed feed that includes the unviewed threads, separatefrom a general feed that includes previously viewed threads and theunviewed threads;

detecting a user input indicative of the user viewing the content notpreviously viewed by the user; and

updating the count indicator as the user input indicative of the userviewing the content is detected.

Example 13 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples and further comprising:

displaying a user actuatable feed selector that is actuated by the userto switch between viewing the unviewed feed and the general feed.

Example 13 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples wherein displaying the user actuatable feed selector comprisesdisplaying the user actuatable feed selector in a header portion of theunviewed feed as a first actuator visually indicative of the unviewedfeed and a second actuator visually indicative of the general feed

Example 14 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples and further comprising:

detecting user actuation of one of the first and second actuators anddisplaying the unviewed feed or the general feed, respectively, based onthe detected user actuation.

Example 15 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples and further comprising:

detecting that the user has viewed all of the threads in the unviewedfeed;

displaying a user actuatable link to another group in the group list,that has unviewed threads.

Example 16 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples and further comprising:

in response to detecting that the user has viewed all of the threads inthe unviewed feed, identifying the other group as a group that the useris most engaged with, and that has unviewed threads.

Example 17 is the computer implemented method of any or all previousexamples wherein displaying the user actuatable link comprises:

displaying a message identifying the other group.

Example 18 is a computing system, comprising:

per-thread pointer management logic that maintains, for each of aplurality of different corresponding threads in a group feed in aprivate social network computing system, a last message viewedidentifier, the last message viewed identifier identifying a lastmessage, in the corresponding thread, viewed by a user;

unviewed feed generator logic that identifies unviewed threads in thegroup feed based on the last message viewed identifier, for the userand, in response to a user input, generates an unviewed feed to displaythe unviewed threads in a separate feed from previously viewed threadsin the group feed;

all feed generator logic that generates an all content feed to displaypreviously viewed and unviewed threads in the group feed; and

an all/unviewed feed selection detector that detects a user selectedfeed indicative of a selected one of the all content feed and theunviewed feed and indicates to the unviewed feed generator logic and theall feed generator logic the user selected feed.

an unviewed counter system that counts the unviewed threads in the groupfeed and generates a count display displaying the count of the unviewedthreads for each group feed.

Example 19 is the computing system of any or all previous examples andfurther comprising:

viewed message detector logic that detects when a subsequent message inthe corresponding thread is viewed by the user and generates anindication that the subsequent message has been viewed, the per-threadpointer management logic updating the last message viewed identifier forthe corresponding thread based on the indication from the viewed messagedetector logic.

Example 20 is the computing system of any or all previous examples andfurther comprising:

an unviewed counter system that counts the unviewed threads in the groupfeed and generates a count display displaying the count of the unviewedthreads for each group feed; and

count update logic that updates the count display based on changes tothe last message viewed identifier.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

1. A computing system, comprising: per-thread pointer management logicthat maintains, for each of a plurality of different correspondingthreads in a group feed in a private social network computing system, alast message viewed identifier, the last message viewed identifieridentifying a last message, in the corresponding thread, viewed by auser; and unviewed feed generator logic that identifies unviewed threadsin the group feed based on the last message viewed identifier, for theuser and, in response to a user input, generates an unviewed feed todisplay the unviewed threads in a separate feed from previously viewedthreads in the group feed.
 2. The computing system of claim I andfurther comprising: all feed generator logic that generates an allcontent feed to display previously viewed and unviewed threads in thegroup feed.
 3. The computing system of claim 2 and further comprising:an all unviewed feed selection detector that detects a user selectedfeed indicative of a selected one of the all content feed and theunviewed feed and indicates to the unviewed feed generator logic and theall feed generator logic the user selected feed.
 4. The computing systemof claim I and further comprising: viewed message detector logic thatdetects when a subsequent message in the corresponding thread is viewedby the user and generates an indication that the subsequent message hasbeen viewed, the per-thread pointer management logic updating the lastmessage viewed identifier for the corresponding thread based on theindication from the viewed message detector logic.
 5. The computingsystem of claim 4 wherein the viewed message detector logic comprises: amessage interaction detector that detects user interaction with thesubsequent message and detects that the subsequent message has beenviewed by the user based on the detected user interaction.
 6. Thecomputing system of claim 4 wherein the viewed message detector logic isconfigured to detect when the subsequent message is fully displayed on auser display screen and, in response, generate the indication that thesubsequent message has been viewed.
 7. The computing system of claim 6wherein the viewed message detector logic comprises: a scroll detectorconfigured to detect a scroll input indicative of the user scrolling thesubsequent message through the display screen.
 8. The computing systemof claim 4 wherein the unviewed feed generatqr is configured to displayeach unviewed thread with an unviewed visual indicator indicating thatthe unviewed thread is unviewed and to modify an appearance of theunviewed visual indicator when the unviewed thread is viewed.
 9. Thecomputing system of claim 4 and further comprising next group suggestionlogic that identifies a next group that has an unviewed thread and, inresponse to the viewed message detector logic detecting that the userhas viewed all threads in the unviewed feed for the group, generating auser message indicating that the user has viewed all messages in thegroup feed and including a user actuatable link to an unviewed feed forthe identified next group.
 10. The computing system of claim 4 andfurther comprising: an unviewed counter system that counts the unviewedthreads in the group feed and generates a count display displaying thecount of the unviewed threads for each group feed.
 11. The computingsystem of claim 11 wherein the unviewed thread counter system comprises:count update logic that updates the count display based on changes tothe last message viewed identifier.
 12. A computer implemented method,comprising: displaying a group list comprising a group selectorcorresponding to a group, with which a user is associated, in a privatesocial network computing system; displaying a count indicator indicativeof a number of unviewed threads in a group feed corresponding to thegroup, the unviewed threads having content not previously viewed by theuser; displaying an unviewed feed that includes the unviewed threads,separate from a general feed that includes previously viewed threads andthe unviewed threads; detecting a user input indicative of the userviewing the content not previously viewed by the user; and updating thecount indicator as the user input indicative of the user viewing thecontent is detected.
 13. The computer implemented method of claim 12 andfurther comprising: displaying a user actuatable feed selector that isactuated by the user to switch between viewing the unviewed feed and thegeneral feed. wherein displaying the user actuatable feed selectorcomprises displaying the user actuatable feed selector in a headerportion of the unviewed feed as a first actuator visually indicative ofthe unviewed feed and a second actuator visually indicative of thegeneral feed
 14. The computer implemented method of claim 13 and furthercomprising; detecting user actuation of one of the first and secondactuators and displaying the unviewed feed or the general feed,respectively, based on the detected user actuation.
 15. The computerimplemented method of claim 12 and further comprising: detecting thatthe user has viewed all of the threads in the unviewed feed; displayinga user actuatable link to another group in the group list, that hasunviewed threads.
 16. The computer implemented method of claim 15 andfurther comprising: in response to detecting that the user has viewedall of the threads in the unviewed feed, identifying the other group asa group that the user is most engaged with, and that has unviewedthreads.
 17. The computer implemented method of claim 15 whereindisplaying the user actuatable link comprises: displaying a messageidentifying the other group.
 18. A computing system, comprising;per-thread pointer management logic that maintains, for each of aplurality of different corresponding threads in a group feed in aprivate social network computing system, a last message viewedidentifier, the last message viewed identifier identifying a lastmessage, in the corresponding thread, viewed by a user; unviewed feedgenerator logic that identifies unviewed threads in the group feed basedon the last message viewed identifier, for the user and, in response toa user input, generates an unviewed feed to display the unviewed threadsin a separate feed from previously viewed threads in the group feed; allfeed generator logic that generates an all content feed to displaypreviously viewed and unviewed threads in the group feed; and anall/unviewed feed selection detector that detects a user selected feedindicative of a selected one of the all content feed and the unviewedfeed and indicates to the unviewed feed generator logic and the all feedgenerator logic the user selected feed.
 19. The computing system ofclaim 18 and further comprising: viewed message detector logic thatdetects when a subsequent message in the corresponding thread is viewedby the user and generates an indication that the subsequent message hasbeen viewed, the per-thread pointer management logic updating the lastmessage viewed identifier for the corresponding thread based on theindication from the viewed message detector logic.
 20. The computingsystem of claim 19 and further comprising: an unviewed counter systemthat counts the unviewed threads in the group feed and generates a countdisplay displaying the count of the unviewed threads for each groupfeed; and count update logic that updates the count display based onchanges to the last message viewed identifier.